Mic Checks
OM Mic Checks Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, 28 Nov, 2011 extract; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkFIQNdyL9s We are Occupy Melbourne. We are a part of a global movement. Our movement is non-violent. Our movement seeks to reclaim our voice in democracy. We occupy because people’s needs are not being met. We occupy because we are opposed injustice. Because injustice makes us sick to our stomachs. We occupy because there are simple and systemic reasons for this. We occupy because it is unacceptable, and there IS an alternative. We occupy because the colonization of indigenous peoples is a horror we have never accounted for. We occupy because we are fighting wars Where 90% of casualties are civilians. We occupy because a system in which homeless people freeze outside while others live in luxury does not deserve to exist. We occupy because a system that allows for people to go hungry while others make billions is unacceptable. We occupy because 'our' economic, corporate and political systems are corrupted and co-opted. They are creating an unjust and inhumane global society. We occupy because we are sure That it does not have to be this way. We occupy because another world is possible. We occupy for the people and the survival of our planet. We occupy because we have already allowed too much destruction. We occupy because we have already allowed too much suffering for the sake of power and greed. We occupy because we have had enough of our own apathy. We occupy because we have had enough of your petty complicity. We will continue to occupy because you cannot evict an idea. We will continue to occupy because there is no deadline on our civil rights. We will continue to occupy despite council harassment. We will continue to occupy despite police brutality and intimidation. We will continue to occupy for the fundamental tenets of democracy. We will not move. We will continue to occupy. Please approach us With love and respect. ************ From "The Great Dictator", 1941 ' I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate; Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men Cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world Millions of despairing men, women, and little children Victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die And the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes Men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives Tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke It is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power The power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful To make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to wor That will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite! ************ '''http://smoyle.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/mic-check-the-drone-forum/ ' Mic check! Mic check! We are here today To say that drones have no place In our civilised society. Our technological innovation Has outstripped our moral capability. We kill without compunction And from a distance. Drone operators have greater rates of post traumatic stress disorder Than regular soldiers Drone bombings are the cause Of mass civilian casualties And much anger and bitterness around the world. In particular Afghanistan And the tribal areas of Pakistan See regular drone bombings. Some of us know innocent, ordinary Afghans Who are terrified by your silent weapons from the sky. This forum Will give you stacks of information On the latest in drone technology But it will not give you information On how to be more compassionate or more human. As Martin Luther King said We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. In the words of the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers Why not love? Why not put your considerable expertise Towards technology which benefits humanity? This is the voice of the people. We are your conscience. ************ '''Joel Kershaw, January 2011 Australia's Foreign trade policy Makes us all complicit in human rights abuses experienced worldwide. One example is the plight of refugees Another is that of sweat shop workers. Last week Nick Carson asked: "What is real democracy"? Ben from the Refugee Action Group Spoke about the plight of refugees Specifically, Ali Abas Who was held in detention and considered a security risk By our government. When Nick spoke, he mentioned That if you lift the blanket and take a closer look You'll see that our country isn't quite what it claims to be. And that the path to addressing this Was to start having discussions As citizens About Democracy About what Democracy really means.In ancient Greece The word 'Democracy' meant power to the people Or the people's power.Until we reclaim our democracy as citizens The current state of affairs Is one in which the government's nefarious relationship with the 1% Finds the interests of the 99% Not being considered by elected officials.Ben from Refugee Action Spoke about Ali Abas Who had made it to Australia at the age of 16 After fleeing from Kuwait. He is now 18 and locked in a cage, like an animal Here in Australia And considered a security risk.Ali Abas is a victim at the bottom of the ladder. He is not a security risk. Our government And its regressive policies are the real security risk.Does anyone remember the AWB? The Australian Wheat Board? Being caught paying kickbacks to Middle Eastern dictators So that those countries would buy the wheat our farmers grew? These kickbacks totalled millions of Australian dollars Paid to repressive regimes Essentially funding these dictators to rule as fascists over their citizens. Citizens like Ali Abas Who wanted something better And who fled in fear of his life Out of a desire for basic human rights. Basic rights some either take for granted here Or through ignorance treat with contempt. He travelled on a boat trip, One which many refugees take At risk of drowning. Many do drown as a result of undertaking this journey.We are sure no one will forget the traumatic images Of a refugee boat smashing ashore at Christmas Island. And then when these people arrive here They are locked in cages A fellow human further traumatised and dehumanised By being locked in a cage and treated like an animal. And he is considered the security risk? He isn't the security risk. Our government And their foreign trade policies Are the security risk. We are complicit in the conditions from which Ali Abas fled. And we treat him in a way that no human deserves to be treated. He manages to emancipate himself from such conditions Only to end up again imprisoned and enslaved. It is inhumane And those responsible for this need to be held accountable. "Advance Australia Fair". This isn't just an idea. It's a standard that must be fought for. ************ ' Darcy Fisk, date unknown' I'm a young Indigenous Australian. The only thing stolen from me that i miss Is the color of my skin But still I have no hate My father was stolen from his mother And fostered into a family. The abuse he suffered while young Made him a very hard man But still i have no hate I have been left on the street and forgotten Spat on for being proud Of something I knew only in my heart Through all this i learned that Everyone is my family My Uncles, Aunties, Brothers, Sisters We are one big messed up family But all is not lost We are all waiting for the right day To stand up against the injustices we see Racism, sexism and discrimination effect us all They run rampant through the streets, Our schools, and even our homes But still we hide Voting for a lost chance Trying to survive the perpetual madness Thrust upon us by the people We have in power to save us. Now is the time There's never been a better one Or even now is just as good You can save future generations From having to suffer intolerance, greed and hate Remember we are one big messed up family I'm your brother, your nephew, your son Save me, save us, save yourself Thank you ************ Douglas Rushkoff @ OWS, November 2011; http://vimeo.com/31918806 My name is Douglas Rushkoff I am humbled and honored to be amplified by your voices. You are not fighting against people, but against a machine. It was put in place over 500 years ago. By a wealthy elite – trying to repress a booming peer to peer economy. Those people are all dead, but their program lives on. They invented an operating system called central currency. People who used to trade directly, were now forced to borrow money from the king’s bank. At interest. The elite also invented software for that operating system. It was called the chartered monopoly. Today we call it the corporation. It is a program designed to extract value. It has legal monopoly over its industries. We are legally prohibited from creating and exchanging value unless we do it through the corporation. We cannot work unless we have a “job.” We outsource our work, we outsource our savings, we outsource our borrowing, we outsource our investing – all instead of sourcing one another. This 13th Century, printing-press era operating system is incompatible with a 21st Century economy. It is broken and dying. But it is still occupying our reality. Too many are mistaking this operating system – for the way things are. They see the Occupy Movement as the impediment. No. We are not asking for wealth to be redistributed. We are asking for the redistribution to STOP. The Long Extraction is Over. The peer to peer society is back. We are ready to create and exchange value as people. They say that the Occupy Movement has no leadership. They are wrong. You are the leaders The rest of us are your followers. What you do here – shows what we can do out there. You are the classroom – we are the students You are the experiment – we are the results. You are the proposition – we are the resolution. If you can sleep under tarps the rest of us can tell your story to our children at bedtime If you can resist the cops. The rest of us can resist the market and the mall If you can live on shared food The rest of us can buy and grow local crops If you can live with no money The rest of us can start using alternative currencies If you can stand firm in the streets The rest of us can stand firm in our foreclosed homes and stand with our neighbors in theirs. If you can occupy Zucotti Park The rest of us can occupy reality. And by that same logic: As the nights get colder, as the Mayor grows less tolerant, or as the police get more violent, Remember that you have already won. Whatever happens in this square, the day you leave is not the day you have lost it is not the day you have surrendered. It is the day you have spread out. It is the day you have declared a bigger battlefield. It is the day you teachers and we students become the same. It is the day we Occupy the World. *********** Source unknown You can't fight city hall, death, and taxes. Don't talk about politics or religion. This is all the equivalent of enemy propaganda rolling across the picket line. "Lay down, GI; lay down, GI." We saw it all through the 20th century. And now in the 21st century It's time to stand up and realise That we should not allow ourselves To be crammed into this rat maze. We should not submit to dehumanisation. I don't know about you But I'm concerned with what's happening in this world. I'm concerned with the structure. I'm concerned with the systems of control; Those that control my life, And those that seek to control it even more! I want freedom! That's what I want! And that's what you should want! It's up to each and every one of us To turn loose and show them The greed, the hatred, the envy And yes - the insecurities, Because that is the central mode of control: Make us feel pathetic; feel small So we'll willingly give up our sovereignty, Our liberty, Our destiny. We have got to realise That we're being conditioned on a mass scale. Start challenging this corporate slave state! The 21st century is going to be a new century. Not the century of slavery. Not the century of lies, And issues of no significance, And classism, and statism And all the rest of the modes of control! It's going to be the age of humankind standing up For something pure and something right! Liberal Democrat; Conservative Republican - What a bunch of garbage. It's all there to control you. Two sides of the same coin. Two management teams bidding for control! The CEO job of Slavery, Incorporated! The truth is out there in front of you, But they lay out this buffet of lies. I'm sick of it, And I'm not going to take a bite out of it! Do you got me? Resistance is not futile. We're gonna win this thing. Humankind is too good! We're not a bunch of underachievers! We're gonna stand up And we're gonna be human beings! We're gonna get fired up about the real things The things that matter. Creativity And the dynamic human spirit That refuses to submit! Well, that's it! That's all I got to say! It's in your court. ************** Scott Day, March 2012 2011 Was the year of the protest With the Arab Spring Leaders overthrown in Tunisia Egypt Libya and Yemen The indignados from Spain Who continue to demonstrate And call for a radical change to politics The revolution of Iceland Overthrew their Government And the people Not politicians Rewrote their constitution And left it to the people Not the Government To renegotiate their foreign debt Then came the Occupy Movement From Occupy Wall Street Which focused On the financial institutions of Wall Street Namely Their accountability in the GFC And their influence in the US Government It has grown from a protest To a worldwide movement And is for many nations Including Australia The biggest movement since the 1970’s Its goal is the best possible world To do away with traditional heirarchies To empower the human race To lead itself To choose its own destiny To put an end to war To put an end to famine To put an end to corruption To put an end to greed To put an end to an economic system Where money is created As interest-bearing debt And a reliance on infinite growth exists To build a new political system A truly democratic one Not a dated system That suited the world 100 years ago The time for change is now Together Instead of being split into false temas That encourage us to compete Like nation-states And corporations We must unite We must unite Discover new technologies Adopt new practices To respect each other Adopt new methods To work together To start living sustainably To propel humanity Out of the dark ages Another world is possible But what kind of world do you want? There is no such thing As being outside of this global uprising You are human We are all human This affects you This affects everyone And the time has come In the year 2012 For us all to create a better world **********